Why Serie A Needs Juventus To Return To Her Old Self

Since Calciopoli in 2006 the Serie A has been a one horse race. Inter have led the way thanks to the harsh penalties imposed on Juventus, in particular, along with Milan, Lazio, and Fiorentina.

In this time, Inter have cruised to Scudetto after Scudetto with little competition from other Serie A sides. For this reason, the Serie A title race in recent seasons has been a largely uneventful and predictable affair.

However, with the results so far this season, perhaps things are about to change for the better. Lazio and Milan look like near-contenders this season whilst the likes of Palermo and Napoli have also impressed.

But what has been the most pleasing sight of the current season has been witnessing Juventus start to look more like her old self. This was particularly evident in last week’s away draw to Inter and even a few days before when the Old Lady came away with a point against Manchester City after taking the lead.

There are two main reasons why the Old Lady needs to continue her rise back to her former glory.

The first reason is that the Serie A will be a better competition with the Old Lady back as her old self.

The likes of Roma, Lazio, and Fiorentina are traditionally competitive sides that have enjoyed, from time to time, short periods of success. However, these sides have not generally been title contenders, season in season out.

Instead it is Milan and Juventus that have traditionally been genuine title contenders. Milan, like Juventus, has struggled to fit this billing in recent years for numerous reasons and Juventus, for more obvious reasons, have also struggled with this.

But both Milan and particularly Juventus seem on the right track to regaining their status at the top of Italian football. Milan has made some dramatic, though questionable moves in the transfer market to suggest that the club has rediscovered its ambition.

Juventus, using a more strategic approach this season after many previous failures, has also made some moves to help their progress back to the top.

For Serie A, the return of these two great Italian clubs can only be a good thing. Serie A will be a better, stronger and more entertaining competition as a result.

The second reason why it is important for Juventus to return to her former glory is because Italian football needs the Old Lady.

Calcio needs the Old Lady to once again be strong because this will go some way to increasing the competitiveness of Serie A. Increasing the competitiveness of Serie A on the domestic front will translate to  Italian teams being more competitive on the international front. And it is so important for this to occur.

With the Serie A sinking into fourth position in the UEFA rankings only weeks ago, as of next season it will be the Bundesliga that is awarded four champions league spots and not the Serie A, which will only receive three.

The drop into fourth position reflects the lack of achievement by Serie A teams in recent years, and from a symbolic point of view, for Serie A not to be considered one of the top three leagues in Europe is a real disappointment. In the 1990’s the Serie A was the undisputed number one league in Europe. To now be considered the fourth best represents a dramatic decline that was propelled by the scandal of 2006.

Italian football needs to aim at retaining its spot as one of the best, perhaps even the best, league in Europe.

This will only be achieved if Juventus, Italy’s most successful club, returns to the summit of Italian football.

If Milan can also continue to improve its ageing but highly talented squad, then with the return of the big three, the Serie A may just start to look more like its old self.

Considering the great success of Italian football in the days of yesteryear, if Calcio starts to look more like its old self, then that will mean a stronger Serie A, both domestically and internationally.